Public trust is expressed and given meaning in the administration and delivery of preservation and interpretations activities. Public trust refers to stewardship and public service. It ensure that heritage will be able to be passed on to future generations. This essay will examine how preservation and interpretation of both tangible and intangible heritage build public trust in museums, archives and historic places. It will examine preservation, administration and visitor policies that encourage and maintain public trust.
Before discussing public trust, this essay will define key terms used in the subsequent discussion: conservation, preservation, tangible heritage and intangible heritage. Conservation refers to the "act of safeguarding an protecting heritage resources" (Study Guide: HERM301, 2013, 10) Preservation refers to the specific actions done to achieve conservation (Study Guide: HERM301, 2013, 10). Tangible heritage refers to art, archives, buildings, archaeological data, artifacts, landscapes and environments that have historical and cultural value(Study Guide: Herm301, 2013, 6). Intangible heritage refers to cultural traditions, practices and languages. It may include music, dance, stories, feelings and life ways of the culture (Study Guide: Herm301, 2013, 6). It also refers to the manner in which the culture may treat their tangible heritage for example the practices surrounding the artifacts, such as menstrual taboos and proximity to other artifacts. It is important that all heritage management institutions work to conserve and preserve both tangible and intangible heritage.
Preservation is a responsibility of heritage management (Rypkema, 2006, 36). By preserving tangible and intangible cultural heritage and p...
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Daibard, Jacques
1985 Building a Cultural Identity. Canadian Heritage 10, no. 5: pp. 2-4
Edson, Gary and Dean, David
1994 Chapter 1, Museums and Community. In The Handbook for Museums. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 3-12,
Gurian, Elaine Heumann
1985 A Blurring of the Boundaries. Curator 38: 31-37.
Lewis, Geoffrey
2004 The Role of Museums and the Professional Code of Ethics. In Running A Museum: A Practical Handbook, Paris: International Council of Museums (ICOM), pp. 1-16.
Rypkema, Donovan
2006 Heritage and Sustainability: Lessons Learned in America - Highlights of Donovan Rypkema's Closing Remarks from the HCF 2005 Conference. Heritage 9, no. 2: pp. 34,36
Weil, Stephen E.
1990 The Proper Business of the Museum: Ideas or Things? Rethinking the Museum and Other Meditations. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990, pp. 43-56.
Duncan’s (1991) analysis of western museums is defined through the theme of “durable objects” as a criterion to judge the heritage of American and European art as a ritual of the modern state. In this manner western art museums are built like “temples” as a symbolic and figurative representation of greatness of western culture throughout the world: “[They] are more like the traditional ceremonial monuments that museum buildings often emulate—classical temples” (Duncan 90). This interpretation of American/European museums defines a dominant source of cultural heritage that ritualizes
For years on end, countries have been fighting with big museums from other countries for ancient artifacts that belong to the original countries. The argument of whether or not the museums should be able to keep them still remains. It is the right of the country to have their own artifacts. It is imperative for countries to be able showcase their historical artifacts, therefor museums should return them to their rightful owners.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art came about as an idea from Jon Jay in Paris, France in 1866 with the idea of “national institution gallery of art” within the United States. Once this idea was proposed, it was immediately moved forward with his return to the United States. With the help of the Union League Club in NY they began to acquire civic leaders, businessmen, artists, and collectors who aided in the creation of the museum. For over 140 years, the visitors who go here have received everything the mission of the institution states.
In Stephen Weil’s essay, he argues “the museum’s role has transformed from one of mastery to one of service” (Weil, 196). According to him, museums have changed their mission from one that cultures the public to one that serves
Imagine that one piece of history that is taken from a town. This piece of history tells l people how this town was built and all the important people that were apart of the community. “Returning Antiquities to Their Countries of Origin” by Joyce Mortimer can many people about how objects are getting taken from Museums. They should be returned immediately. There are so many artifacts out there that could be so important to people, and if someone can just imagine what it would feel to have one of the most important object taken from a museum and to be never returned again. Many people enjoy seeing these objects so why are they being taken?
...troversy as all countries have lost, to a great or lesser extent, treasures of national renown and significance over time. Wars, theft, treasure seeking, changing boundaries and migration have all in some way contributed to this diaspora of art. There is clear evidence that the historic placing of objects in locations remote from their origin has on occasion afforded protection and preservation, The Elgin Marbles in The British Museum being a case in point. However, given the overarching principle of self determination it is difficult to argue that serendipitous historic placement is sufficient reason for items of true national heritage to be kept indefinitely. A world-wide system of touring exhibitions and cultural exchange, with context being provided by the originating society may provide the natural progression to the accessible widening of people’s experiences.
‘New museology’ is the concept of modernising museums and making them more interesting and interactive for the visitors. The District Six Museum is a good example of new museology because it is a relatively new museum that was started and run by the community, not the state and it is very different to older museums. It is very appropriate to have a museum like this in South Africa, because what happened in District Six should not be forgotten and museums like this one encourage people to visit them and find out more about what has happened. Part of new museology is to teach people more about what happened in the past by using more interactive displays; the District Six Museum does this by using a range of interesting and interactive displays.
In a word, cultural heritage belongs to where it is created. Based on this precondition, cultural artifacts can be shared by all the human being only when its owner offers this on his own.
Youngs, I. (2011). Museums enjoy 10 years of freedom. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15927593. Last accessed 4th Nov 2013.
Artifacts have special cultural value. Many artifacts contained the non-material circumstance that had their own culture’s tough characteristic and they symbolized the culture and historical of a country.(“Artifacts”, 2011, para.1). The worth of artifacts inflects a country’s or a nation’s culture developments. Values, esthetic interests, and economic conditions in its period.
Museum defines as an institution housing collections of objects of artistic, historic, or scientific interest conserved and displayed for the educational and enjoyment of the public. Museums are places of memory that provides the link of distant past to the present generation which also help the society to know the path their forebears trod. The main purpose of museum is neither to educate nor entertain but rather creates a memory bank would remind us of the past. No wonder most societies in different parts of the world traced their origin through the works of arts history. There are many types of museum includes museum of Antiquities-in which are housed ancient pieces of furniture or objects of art such as sculptures, paintings, ceramics, textiles and other crafts. Public record office museum serving as collection centre for famous documents, War museum containing relics of national wars, Maritime museum for maritime history, museum for architecture, with types, structures and styles of building, etc., Museum for Local/Indigenous Technologies, Science Museum, with objects depicting history of science and engineering and Natural History Museum. However, all types of these have their own roles of information institutions in national development. The main roles are to identify, acquire, preserve, and exhibit unique, collectible, or representative objects. The role of museum in the life of a nation involves conducting research into the vast natural history heritage and biodiversity of the country, serving as a repository, of natural objects, source materials and taxonomists in that country, creating scientific awareness, on natural history resources of the nation through annotated exhibitions for public enlightenment in display ga...
International Council On Monuments and Sites, 2014. The role of ICOMOS in the World Heritage Convention. [online] Icomos.org. Available at: [Accessed 18 Apr. 2014].
A museum is “a building in which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited.” (dictionary.com). This is the literal definition of a museum as well as my view of them coming into my first semester of college. I believed they were boring, outdated places where historical items were displayed. As I moved through the semester, my professor helped me gain a new perspective of these remarkable museums; one of respect and astonishment. Museums are meant to aid in learning and safeguarding of things that should never be forgotten. Of the many great places I visited this semester that adjusted my feelings towards museums, the ones that had the greatest impact were The National Museum of Natural History, The Newseum, The National Gallery of Art, and The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. These places are there to remind the general public about things that should never be forgotten; they preserve the history and beauty of the world.
According to the Sinhala language,”Sanskruthika Urumayan” word reflects the translated form of the English word cultural heritage. The word “Sanskruthiya” means culture and “Urumayan” means both tangible and intangible remaining forms from the past to the present. Considering the legislation definition I have chosen to define cultural heritage according to laws of Sri Lanka, it is important to see the period of its origin. Sri Lanka, which named as Ceylon was colonized by British throne, from early of 1830s to 1945 February 4th Independence Day (citation). Therefore, the following legislation document of Sri Lanka was developed in 1940 under the colonial ruling before the independence and the word referred to cultural heritage is antiquities. According to the 1940 Antiquities Ordinance of Ceylon, it recognize any monuments that lying, being or found in the (Ceylon) Sri Lanka as the ancient monuments if they are dated before 1815. Also, it had defined a monument as,”temple, church, monument, other structure or erecti...
The success or the failure of an art exhibition is reliant on the ability of the art piece to exist by itself on the curved wall of a sloped museum, while also making sense as a piece of the whole exhibit. Visitors’ interests were more focused on the historical context rather than appreciating the history lesson or the collection of artworks themselves, because of the small pockets of gallery spaces. This is due in large part to the museum’s unique, inflexible structure, which hinders the full function of the museum.